Broken Prince
by Suzume Jun
Summary: A match in the past leaves a then ten year old Ryoma Echizen with several permanent health issues that leave many questioning rather the Prince of tennis can even continue playing. When Ryoma moves to Japan he knew hiding those injuries from Seigaku was going to be hard and that being caught was not an option. Why can't he just play tennis?
1. Busted

**Broken Prince**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it.**

**Summary: A match in the past leaves a then ten year old Ryoma Echizen with several permanent health issues that leave many questioning rather the Prince of tennis can even continue playing. When Ryoma moves to Japan he knew hiding those injuries from Seigaku was going to be hard and that being caught was not an option. Why can't he just play tennis?**

**Chapter one: Busted **

He knew he should have stayed home today. Nothing good ever happens on this day every year. Almost as if the day were cursed…

… Knowing his luck it probably was.

Today was the day he realized he was different from the rest of the kids in his class, the day the bullying started, the day he started worrying that his Oyaji wanted to replace him, the day Ryoga first complained about him, the first day Ryoga abandoned him because having your younger brother around wasn't "Cool", the day Ryoga walked out on their family, the first time his Oyaji actually called him Ryoga, the day his world was cut in half…

…And now it was going to be the day that the tennis world was closed off to him.

He had been kicked off the tennis teams back in America when one of his old coaches found out about his injuries (Which also had happened on this day). Ryoma just couldn't understand why everyone made such a big deal about it but being dragged to the nurse's office by Eiji-senpai surrounded by the other regulars makes his stomach start to fill with dread.

All he wanted to do was play tennis.

After his physical he wouldn't be allowed to. Why did they need one anyway? Inui-senpai would know immediately if something was wrong with any of them. When they reach the door to the office the twelve year old ties to make a break for it.

Keyword? _TRIES_

He doesn't make it more than a few steps away before he feels cold metal encircle his left wrist and hears a definite clicking sound.

Bachou is holding the door open, a glare on his face that tells them all to stop messing around and get inside. Oishi-senpai is looking at him worriedly from where he was standing halfway into the office. Eiji-senpai is bouncing on his heels in front of the mother hen looking at him with wide worried eyes. Momo-senpai, Kaido-senpai, and Taka-senpai are already in the office. Inui-senpai has his notebook out scribbling in it rapidly and Fuji-senpai is standing behind him with his blue eyes open and a sadistic smile on his face…

… Holding a handcuff whose twin is conveniently locked tightly around his wrist.

Ryoma's body slumps at the knowledge that escape was well beyond his grasp. Fuji-senpai tugs on his end and drags the unstruggling yet definitely NOT helping either twelve-year-old into the nurse's office before locking his end of the cuffs around one of the bedposts.

Momo-senpai and Kaido-senpai are finished with their physicals so Bachou sends them to do laps (the decision helped by the two sighting over some nonsensical thing or another) and Eiji-senpai goes next to _"Show Ochibi that it wasn't __**that**__ bad Nya!"_ After him Oishi-senpai and Taka-senpai go before Oishi-senpai leads them out of there to _"Check on Momo-kun and Kaido-kun."_, leaving him with Bachou, Inui-senpai, and Fuji-senpai.

As the nurse jots down notes and sets everything back up Bachou speaks for the first time since the announcement that this torture was going to be administered today.

"Is there a reason you tried to run Echizen?" His voice is emotionless and the room goes silent besides the nurse's shuffling (which seems to be taking longer than it had between the other physicals) but Ryoma flinches all the same. Diverting his eyes from his three present senpais he shakes his head negative.

"No Bachou." He responds, voice lacking the self-confident, cocky, boredom it usually had.

"There is an 85% chance that he just lied-" Inui-senpai goes to continue but is interrupted by Fuji-senpai who is now sitting down next to Ryoma on the bed,

"Saa Ryo-chan, why are you shaking?" The tensai asks and said boy curses in his mind. Unable to stop himself from trembling in fear of what he stands to lose because of this physical, tennis was his life and he was actually _enjoy_ing having friends. To lose both at the same time simply because of some demon-styled jerk a few years ago wasn't something he thought he could stand.

"Echizen-kun is next." The nurse says approaching the youngest regular. Everything goes fine, to the relief of Ryoma and the surprise of the three spectators….

…Until they get to the vision test.

"I want you to cover your right eye and read from the lowest line you can from the sign over there." She instructs and slowly Ryoma does as he was told biting the inside of his bottom lip so hard the coppery taste of blood floods his mouth.

"I can't." He says softly, closing both his eyes in defeat and shame as he drops his hand into his lap. After all…

…Japanese sight signs were different from the ones he had memorized back in America.

**Hello everyone!**

**I hope you like this so far though it could probably have been written a lot better. So what do you think? Comments… suggestions… ideas for the future in this story… requests for what you want to see in an upcoming chapter…? I don't know unless you tell me. Until next time…**

…**Bye!**


	2. Saved by the Bell

**Broken Prince**

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it.**

**Summary: A match in the past leaves a then ten year old Ryoma Echizen with several permanent health issues that leave many questioning rather the Prince of tennis can even continue playing. When Ryoma moves to Japan he knew hiding those injuries from Seigaku was going to be hard and that being caught was not an option. Why can't he just play tennis?**

**Chapter two: Saved by the Bell**

_"I can't." He says softly, closing both his eyes in defeat and shame as he drops his hand into his lap. After all…_

…_Japanese sight signs were different from the ones he had memorized back in America._

"What did you say?" The nurse asks shocked, Fuji-senpai's eyes shoot open, Bachou blinks in surprise (Yes... Tezuka actually showed emotion.), and Inui-senpai drops his notebook. Tears threaten to spill from Ryoma's eyes but he clenches his fists tight and refuses to allow them to fall,

"I can't, I see none of it. I'm half blind Sensei." His voice cracks as he explains, tugging on the handcuffs that prohibit his escape.

"Neh, Fuji-senpai, can you unlock these?" He continues, forcing himself to act as if it were nothing. It really wasn't anyway. Not for him. Not for Tennis...

... He had worked hard to overcome that part of his life.

The tensai blinks and goes to unlock the metal chain but is stopped by Bachou who put a hand on the fellow ninth grader's shoulder before positioning himself in front of the youngest member of his team. The two pillars stare at each other, one silently demanding an explanation as to **how **this had come about and **why** no one had been informed of it. The other guarded and defiant, one golden eye slightly lighter in color then the other and more out of focus than it's twin now that the elder player was actually seeing them. The nurse is at her desk, frantically pulling out and searching through a rather thick file and tapping away at her computer looking for something. Inui-senpai has picked his notebook up off the floor and is muttering to himself as he flips through it absolutely at a loss as to what to do. His data had never been wrong before and yet a half blind Echizen Ryoma **definitely** went against his data. Fuji-senpai was silent as he stared, eyes still wide open, at the small boy handcuffed to the bed he was sitting on.

"It doesn't change anything Bachou." Ryoma says, denying (at least to himself) the near pleading edge in his voice.

"I've been playing with my injuries for two years now, my tennis has adjusted accordingly and it no longer matters." He continues, trying hard to convince them that it **didn't**. That there was no reason he should be _let go _from this team like he had all the others since his match in the California State Championship finals back in America two years ago. Bachou's next question makes him flinch and he just _knows_ he will be outcasted now.

"**Injuries** Echizen?" The voice is patient sounding and though it is strained it is anything but angry however it makes no difference.

Maybe if he had listened back then this could have all been avoided...

_Ten-year-old Ryoma Echizen, star prodigy southpaw of Angel's Elementary school in California, smiles as he plays with a tennis ball on his way home from school. He couldn't wait to tell his Baka Oyaji that he had won again and would get to play the California state high school champion! Sure, he had been playing in tournaments against people well over his age for a few years but this was definitely going to impress his nonchalant never-gone-to-a-single-one-of-my-son's-matches-since-he-was-six parents! They might even decide to come watch this one!_

_Only Oyaji though, Ka-san was_ really _busy with her job as a lawyer. She couldn't even take his birthday off from work and he was born on __**Christmas Eve**__!_

_A guy walks up to him looking to be about seventeen to nineteen years old. He was tall (At least to the smaller then normal Ochibi), had short blond hair, and green eyes. The tennis bag slung over his shoulder pronounced him as part of Freedman high's tennis team._

_"Ryoma Echizen right?" He asks in a hard, no-nonsense, I-already-know-the-answer, voice and Ryoma nods._

_"Daniel Wilkans, listen kid I don't _**want**_ to hurt you but you go on that court during the next state tournament match and I swear to God it will be the last match you ever play."_

Maybe if he had simply forfeited the match like his old teammates had told him to he wouldn't have to fear people finding out about his injuries.

But **MAYBE **wasn't **IS** and he **HAD** played...

"Neh, Bachou, Why do sports players train to use both hands in their sport?" The twelve-year-old asks closing his eyes, and Fuji-senpai shakes his head while Bachou blinks in confusion for a second almost completely out of his element.

"Saa- Many different reasons Ryo-chan." The blue eyed boy supplies, playing along with his Kohai's game as the others seemed to have been defeated by this situation. Considering the eventual outcome that _always_ comes without fail Ryoma don't see why. None of the other teams had taken this long to kick him off...

...Most of them hadn't wanted him to begin with and were not above making that blatantly clear from the moment the young prodigy had stepped onto their court.

"I broke my left arm a few years ago." The golden-eyed boy says to interrupt the list of statistics that come flowing out of Inui-senpai's mouth. Though the vague words rolling off his tongue tasted vial and make him feel nauseous.

"How Echizen?" Bachou asks, disbelief plain on his features, sure that he would have at least spotted someone playing with an arm injury as he had one himself... among other reasons of course. It was not really clear just _what_ he was asking in his state of shock but Ryoma knew the answer his tennis captain was trying to obtain from him. The cuff chaffs painfully at his wrist as he once again tries fruitlessly to escape. _'Why would they ask how I got injured. It's enough that I am.'_ He thinks, confused as none of the other inquisitions he had been in had ever gone on this long nor went this into the actual details. Fuji-senpai grabs his wrist and holds it as Bachou repeats his question, voice running out of patience.

"How were you injured Echizen?"

In a rare stroke of luck Ryoma is saved by the bell for school...

... The twelve-year-old doesn't think he had **EVER** been so relieved for the end of a practice.

**Thank you all who reviewed. In response to several of the reviews, first off I have not decided if this will be a romantic fic so if any of you would like to review or PM me your opinion on the matter you may/please do. However I would also like you to suggest as to who Ryoma would end up with if I **_**did**_** make this a romance type thing. There are no boundaries on what pairings/groups you may/can request if it doesn't end up happening I'll try to work it into a different fic later on. The category with the most requests will more or less win placing in this one though. Secondly, as I have put in this chapter Ryoma does have other injuries. But yes the only eye that is blind is his left one. Until next time...**

…**Bye!**


	3. Pairings Poll so far

**Hey, the poll isn't closed yet, you may still request pairings/vote for an already requested pair, I just wanted to show a tally of the current standings and ask for any side pairing requests. Sorry if I got your hopes up for an update, I'm working on the next chapter for this and am almost finished with the next chapter for From the Mind of Ryoma Echizen which will be posted on April 31st... if that is of any comfort to you...**

Current poll results

Thrill (Fuji/Ryoma) - 7

Pillar (Tezuka/Ryoma) - 3

RyoSaku (Ryoma/Sakuno) - 1 Friendship - 1

OT6 (Sanada/Tezuka/Atobe/Fuji/Yukimura/Ryoma) - 14

OT5 (Sanada/Tezuka/Atobe/Fuji/Ryoma) - 1

OT3 (?) - 2

None - 3


End file.
